Finals/Zac Dawson teams and banter thread

Congratulations @Bandit on the Charlies Opening Spelunkers deservedly making the 2025 ORFFA Grand Final. The top four teams from the ORFFA home and away season all performed well over the first two weeks of the finals with this quartet of teams averaging 1,472 points per game over the first two weeks of the finals and each team having at least one 1,450+ score. Commiserations to @snoz and @chris88 on their Grasshoppers and Nuffers respectively getting defeated in a preliminary final. The Nuffers had the tougher draw and played superbly to score 1,469, but it wasn’t quite enough to defeat the rampaging Spelunkers who set the bar incredibly high with a score of 1,534. In finals one team can fell away under immense pressure from the opposition.

Thanks for the congratulations Snoz. The Gundagai Grasshoppers were incredibly consistent to have 13 wins and two losses during the home and away season with one of these losses being to the undefeated Spelunkers. I had a feeling that the preliminary final with the Grasshoppers hosting the Devils was going to be close but I didn’t anticipate it being quite as close as it ended up being. At three quarter time of the final AFL game of the weekend between the Eagles and Crows the Devils held a slender lead over the Hoppers. Throughout the final quarter the Hoppers active duo of Jordan Dawson and Izak Rankine were reducing the Devils lead opposed to Rory Laird and Ryan Maric. When Grasshoppers forward Rankine kicked a goal with about eight minutes left in the last quarter I thought that the Hoppers were going to have a narrow victory over the Devils. That wasn’t the way it panned out with the lucky Devils holding on to win by six points, 1,393 to 1,387. The Grasshoppers had some bad luck with Neale and Curnow missing the game due to injury and James Peatling and Lachie Neale suffering in-game injuries. On the flip side the full strength Devils two highest scoring players in the preliminary final, forward Toby Greene and defender Rory Laird both had fresh legs after missing the quarter final. Devils captain Jack Steele benefited from playing limited minutes in the quarter final and fringe CMD player Aaron Naughton made the most of his late season recall to score SuperCoach tons in both finals. The Hoppers were the clear-cut second best ORFFA team in 2025 and are unlucky to not be in the Grand Final against the Spelunkers. Hopefully the trend of the Hoppers being a home and away powerhouse but then having bad luck late in the season stops and they are able to have a clear run at it in the 2026 finals.

I had two very close escapes in SuperCoach last weekend. In addition to the Devils six point win against the Hoppers in the ORFFA I progressed to a Grand Final after having a 2,541 apiece draw in a SuperCoach classic preliminary final against my cousin Shaun.
At the end of the home and away season my team finished third and Shaun's team finished fourth. Due to being the higher ranked team at the end of the home and away season my team progressed to the Grand Final. The flex position and only the 22 highest scores from the 23 players counting saved me. My score that dropped out was Jy Farrar's 37 whilst Shaun's 23rd non-counting player, Tom De Konig doubled this with 75.

 

Cradle Mountain Devils Grand Final team

Out: R Laird (suspended)
In: W Milera


Def: D Zorko, N Vlastuin, J Battle, W Milera (T McDonald)
Mid: S Pendlebury, J Steele, J Hopper, S Banks (R Ginbey)
Ruc: R Marshall
Fwd: R Maric, S Mannagh, A Naughton, T Greene (P Wright)
Int: T English, T Nankervis (E Langdon)

Due to a one game suspension defender Rory Laird will miss Cradle Mountain’s away Grand Final against fellow Tasmanian team Charlies Spelunker. Fellow defender Wayne Milera has been recalled, having made his CMD debut in the home finals victory in week 1 against the Mount Beauty Uglies when Laird was managed. Although Laird will only play in one of Cradle Mountain’s finals this season he still played an influential role in the club making the Grand Final, scoring 120 in the PF win to be CMD’s second ranked player behind forward Toby Greene (126).

Cradle Mountain have named a very experienced team for the 2025 ORFFA Grand Final with eight of the 15 players on the Devils 15 player team having represented the club in a Grand in 2018 and / or 2021. Half a dozen players in CMD’s 2025 Grand Final played in the club’s 2021 premiership. Five of these players had the same position eligibility in 2021 and 2025, midfielders Jack Steele and Jacob Hopper, ruck pair Rowan Marshall and Tim English along with defender Nick Vlastuin. After being a forward/midfielder in 2021 inaugural Devil Dayne Zorko is a pure defender in 2025. After playing in the Devils 2018 Grand Final side and missing the 2021 premiership team due to injury inaugural Devil Scott Pendlebury and Tasmanian ruck Toby Nankervis have been named to play their second Grand Final for the club. After being a fringe player for most of his ORFFA career with the Devils, forward Aaron Naughton will play in his first Grand Final. Naughton was selected by CMD with pick 14 in the 2018 PSD and in his debut ORFFA season was named a defender emergency in the club’s 2018 Grand Final loss against Marble Bar. Three years later Naughton was named a forward emergency for the Devils Grand Final team that won the 2021 premiership against Venus Bay. A trio of players have been named to play their third Grand Final for the Devils this weekend N Vlastuin, D Zorko, J Steele.

Over the weekend I will make some more posts covering the history of 2025 Grand Final teams, Tassie duo Charlies Opening Spelunkers and Cradle Mountain Devils. I will also cover ORFFA Grand Final history. Below is a list of ORFFA Grand Final results.

ORFFA Premiers and Grand Final results

ORFFA Grand Finalists with the host listed first and premiers in bold

2013 Foul Bay Chickens (1) 1471 vs Darraweit Guim Dirigibles (7) 1336 margin 135 points
2014 Iron Knob Codpieces (1) 1400 vs Wagga Wagga Wombats (5) 1292 margin 108 points
2015 Birdsville Battlers (7) 1288 vs Larrikin Lagoon Lefties (8) 1294 margin 6 points
2016 Larrikin Lagoon Lefties (2) 1192 vs Venus Bay Vultures (8) 1138 margin 54 points
2017 Waikikamoocow Incorrigibles (1) 1357 vs Marble Bar Misfits (3) 1337 margin 20 points
2018 Cradle Mountain Devils (7) 1258 vs Marble Bar Misfits (8) 1370 margin 112 points
2019 Foul Bay Chickens (1) 1234 vs Venus Bay Vultures (5) 1382 margin 148 points
2021 Venus Bay Vultures (2) 1394 vs Cradle Mountain Devils (4) 1466 margin 72 points
2022 Gundagai Grasshoppers (1) 1200 vs Gariwerd Cockatoos (2) 1354 margin 154 points
2023 Gundagai Grasshoppers (1) 1341 vs Mount Beauty Uglies (4) 1396 margin 55 points
2024 Nareewillock Nuffers (1) 1237 vs Mount Beauty Uglies (4) 1320 margin 83 points
2025 Charlies Opening Spelunkers (1) vs Cradle Mountain Devils (4)

Due to time constraints finals were unable to be played in 2012 and 2020. In both of these seasons the team that finished first on the ladder at the end of the home and away season won the ORFFA premiership and the second placed team were the runners up.

Premiers Runners Up

2012 Foul Bay Chickens (1) Iron Knob Codpieces (2)
2020 Gundagai Grasshoppers (1) Foul Bay Chickens (2)


Seven ORFFA clubs have made at least one Grand Final in the five season period from 2021 to 2025. A trio of clubs have made two Grand Finals in this time. Gundagai Grasshoppers had back to back losses in 2022 and 2023 whilst Mount Beauty Uglies had back to back victories in 2023 and 2024. The Cradle Mountain Devils have book ended this half-decade period with two Grand Final appearances, a victory in 2021 and the 2025 result to be determined this weekend. Apart from 2023 each of the five GF’s from 2021 to 2025 featured the Hoppers, Uglies or Devils against a team outside this trio. Venus BayVultures lost in 2021, Gariwerd Cockatoos won in 2022, Nareewillock Nuffers lost in 2024 and Charlies Opening Spelunkers are the hosts making their Grand Final debut in 2025.

@Bandit's Charlies Opening Spelunkers have created history by becoming the fourth club to have an undefeated home and away season in ORFFA history, joining 2012 Foul Bay Chickens, 2014 Iron Knob Codpieces and 2018 Venus Bay Vultures. A bad omen for the Spelunkers is that the last six teams that have hosted a Grand Final have lost. The team that commenced this trend is the Spelunkers 2025 Grand Final opponent, the Devils who as the seventh seed lost the 2018 Grand Final The Waikikamoocow Incorrigibles are the most recent team to win an ORFFA Grand Final as the hosts, achieving this feat with a 20 point win against the Misfits in 2017. Finals weren’t held in 2020 due to time constraints. From 2018 to 2024 four clubs won the minor premiership but were unable to win the Grand Final that season, Venus Bay Vultures (2018), Foul Bay Chickens (2019 & 2021), Gundagai Grasshoppers (2022 & 2023) and Nareewillock Nuffers (2024).

Three weeks ago in the final round of the 2025 ORFFA season Charlies Opening Spelunkers easily won an all-Tassie clash, defeating the Cradle Mountain Devils by 398 points, 1541 to 1143. The Spelunkers have been incredible in the first two weeks of the 2025 finals to score 1,525 + in both victories.

If Charlies Opening can reverse this trend and win the 2025 ORFFA Grand Final they will lay claim to one of the greatest seasons in ORFFA history. Standing in the Spelunkers way is an experienced Devils outfit who have thrived as the away team in ORFFA finals to have a record of eight wins and five losses on the road in finals, a strike rate of 61.5%. Whilst the Spelunkers easily won the h & a game against the Devils they wont be able to take much confidence from this. The Devils had lost too both of their previous finals opponents during the h & a season but were able to turn the tables to have 2025 finals victories against the Uglies and Grasshoppers. On the weekend the Spelunkers are attempting to achieve a perfect 18 win, zero loss season across the 2025 home and away season and finals. The previous club to have an undefeated home and away season was the Venus Bay Vultures in 2018, going 17-0. In game number 18 an upstart Cradle Mountain Devils team upset the Vultures 1,434 - 1,219 on the road to end Venus Bay’s season in dramatic fashion. Cradle Mountain can also draw on the experience from winning the 2021 grand final as the road team and six players from that team are in this weekend’s Grand Final team. Whenever a club has lost the crown as ORFFA premiers they have never been able to reclaim it. Most seasons have had a new premier and the three clubs that have won multiple premierships – Foul Bay Chickens (2012 & 2013), Larrikin Lagoon Lefties (2015 & 2016) and Mount Beauty Uglies (2023 & 2024) al did so by winning back-to-back premierships. If the Devils can defy the odds and upset the Spelunkers in the 2025 Grand Final they will become the first team to regain the crown as premiers and win multiple premierships without doing so back-to-back. In an All-Tassie ORFFA Grand Final history will be made, can the Devils crash the party during the finals of a team that is on a 17 game winning streak as they did in 2018 or can the Spelunkers break the minor premiers curse and become the second team along with the 2014 Iron Knob Codpieces to be undefeated over the h & a season and finals. The wildcard is how both teams react to playing in a Grand Final against a close geographical foe. Whilst the Spelunkers and Devils have had home and away derby's opposed to one another each ORFFA season the stakes are significantly higher for the first finals encounter between the two clubs with the 2025 ORFFA premiership cup carrying much more weight than the usual stakes of bragging rights. Good luck with your Spelunkers for the Grand Final @Bandit.

 

Mindful of how dominant Charlies Opening have been in 2025 to go 17 wins, zero losses and the fact that they blew the Devils off the park to the tune of 398 points in the final round of the h & a season a fast start was critical for the Devils in the Grand Final. After winning the toss the Devils used the wind brilliantly in the first quarter to gain an early lead. Cradle Mountain heavily front-ended the GF, starting with D1 Dayne Zorko, M1 Jack Steele and starting ruck Rowan Marshall, a trio who were all members of the CMD 2021 premiership team. Based on averages the Devils weakest leg will be the 2nd quarter, comprised of a trio of players that average around 80 in Josh Battle (81), Wayne Milera (79) and Toby Greene (79) along with Devils M2 Scott Pendlebury (93) in pursuit of his elusive first ORFFA premiership medal.

Cradle Mountain are close to full strength with the only player missing from the best 15 being defender Rory Laird (101). Based on 2025 season averages CMD are only down 22 points with Milera replacing Laird. For a team that spends time in Caves underground the Spelunkers depth is well and truly being tested with midfielder Zach Merrett (107) out with a broken hand. Forward duo Jesse Hogan (78 in 2025) and Jake Waterman (83 in 2024) are both on the sidelines soi can’t be called into the side. Forward Brad Close (64) is looking to make the most of his call-up to the Spelunkers Int 2 position and is aiming to channel Mitch Mortan’s performance for Sydney in the 2012 AFL Grand Final. If he can achieve this and help the Spelunkers win the 2025 GF Close will become an instant cult-hero.

@Bandit, the Devils coaching staff are delighted with the team’s first quarter in the GF and will be aiming for ‘more of the same please’ as you mentioned. With the Spelunkers having the wind in the 2nd quarter CMD will be looking to play at a slightly slower tempo than the first quarter. The Devils will stick to playing their own game at the start of the second quarter but Pendles is on standby to play a run with role if Nick Daicos is causing too much damage in the midfield.

 

@anthak the wind for the 2025 ORFFA Grand Final at Charlies Opening isn’t quite at gale force (62-74 kph), the strength has mainly been a moderate breeze (20-28 kph) in the first half.

Quarter time score

Charlies Opening Spelunkers 332 Ave of 88.5 per player
trail
Cradle Mountain Devils 409 Ave of 109.1 per player.

The Devils have slightly slowed the tempo kicking against the breeze in the 2nd quarter and Charlies Opening are reducing the lead but currently not at a fast enough rate to draw level at half time.


So far on Saturday
Charlies Opening Spelunkers

Score (season average) {change}

L Whitfield 111 (107) {+4}

L Meek 73 (104) {-31}

Total 184 (211) {-27}


Cradle Mountain Devils

T Greene 82 (79) {+3}

J Battle 69 (81) {-12}

Total 151 (160) {-9}



Progress score

Charlies Opening Spelunkers 538/6 Ave 89.7

Cradle Mountain Devils 498/5 Ave 99.6

Spelunkers defender Lachie Whitfield has been the best player so far on Saturday with a score of 111, just above his season average of 107. The ORFFA Grand Final features five of the top 10 rucks in the ORFFA during the 2025 season which highlights the strength of both ruck divisions. Usually the Spelunkers ruck duo of Jackson (4th ranked ruck in the ORFFA) and Meek (8) win the ruck battle against their opponent. It has been a very different story in the 2025 GF with the Devils ruck trio of English (6), Marshall (7) and Nankervis (10) using their numerical advantage to convincingly win the duel. Jackson (57) and Meek (73) have been restricted to a combined tally of 130 which is only 58.6% of their combined season average which is a tribute to Richie Benaud, 222. I think @Bandit might be asking for something special from midfield duo Nick Daicos and Marcus Bontempelli to try and get things back on track for Charlies Opening.


For the quarter scores I work on:

3.75 players qtr time
7.5 players half time
11.25 players three qtr time
15.0 players full time

At the end of Saturday eight Spelunkers will have taken the field compared to seven Devils so it will be just before half time for the Devils. Late tonight a half time score will be provided for the Spelunkers and the score the Devils are on track for at half time will be listed with an official score to be provided tomorrow.

 

2025 ORFFA Grand Final update
Late Saturday

Score (season average) {change}
Charlies Opening Spelunkers
N Daicos 133 (117) {+16}
A Neal-Bullen 83 (78) {+5}
Total 216 195 {+21}

Score (season average) {change}
Cradle Mountain Devils
S Pendlebury 93 (93) {0}
W Milera 101 (79) {+22}
Total 194 172 {+22}


Progress score
Charlies Opening Spelunkers 752/8 Ave 94.0

Cradle Mountain Devils 692/7 Ave 98.9


Half time

@Bandit’s Charlies Opening Spelunkers 698
trail
Cradle Mountain Devils on track for 736


Late Saturday action saw two positional duels, Spelunkers M2 Nick Daicos vs Devils M2 Scott Pendlebury and Spelunkers F4 Alex Neal-Bullen opposed to Devils D4 Wayne Milera. The wind remained constant throughout the first half, being a moderate breeze, conditions changed late in the second quarter, with a brief shower. In the home and away game between the two clubs in the final round, Round 15, the Devils went too defensive in the midfield and were thrashed so changed tactics in the Grand Final to start off going head-to-head in all midfield duels. There were discussions in the coaches box to having Pendles becoming more defensive and implementing a run with role role on Nick Daicos. Even though Daicos got on top in the 2nd half CMD were happy with the way the game was progressing overall so kept Pendles going head-to-head. Nick Daicos won the duel against Pendles by 40 points, 133 to 93, providing a lift for the Spelunkers. Devils D4 Wayne Milera (101) took the honours against Alex Neal-Bullen (83) by 18 points which was a great result for CMD with Milera only playing his second game of the season, both times filling in for Rory Laird. Milera’s 101 exceeded his season average by 22 points and matched Laird’s season average. Overall the COS late Saturday duo of N Daicos and ANB were a combined 21 points above the season average. The Devils pair of Pendles, and Milera exceeded this by a solitary point, being a combined 22 points above their season average.

At the 2025 mid-season draft the Devils priority was the forward line, using their first two picks on experienced forwards, Jamie Elliot (pick 14) and Peter Wright (pick 30). The Devils were fortunate that experienced defender Milera was available at pick 46. At the start of the MSD the defender at the top of CMD’s wish list was Mark Blicavs. At pick 16 Blicavs was selected by Charlies Opening, the team the Devils are playing in the Grand Final. Blitz is the D3 in Charlies Opening’s Grand Final team and is in action on Sunday. Neither of the forwards selected by Cradle Mountain at this season's MSD are in the club’s Grand Final team. Elliot was in the team after the mid-season break however his form dropped away and he was omitted when Toby Greene returned from suspension for the preliminary final against the Hoppers. Wright has consistently been an emergency and has the forward emergency role for the GF.

The first half of the 2025 Grand Final has been a high standard contest with the Devils providing the Spelunkers with their toughest challenge of the season. Cradle Mountain are ecstatic to have a narrow half time lead against a Spelunkers outfit on a 17 game winning streak. Last week the Devils trailed the Grasshoppers by 54 points, 729 to 675 at half time and were lucky to escape with a narrow victory by six points. The Devils can draw on their vast finals experience and experience in close games. Due to their incredible form in 2025 the Spelunkers have rarely been in close games. Both of the Spelunkers games against the Nuffers had a margin of less than 70 points. The Spelunkers won a more defensive game in Round 7 against the Nuffers by 43 points, 1,283 to 1,241 and prevailed in a preliminary final shootout last weekend by 65 points 1534 to 1469. . Eight of the 15 players to take the field so far have reached triple figures comprised of four players for each team. It will be fascinating to see how Charlies Opening and Cradle Mountain respond to the immense pressure in the second half with the 2025 ORFFA premiership well and truly up for grabs with a pro-Spelunkers crowd at fever pitch cheering their team on as they attempt to win their first premiership against close geographical neighbour and arch-rival, the Devils.